Timbit player Kyler Tourigny gets some cherished ice time

From four-year-old Timbit players to NHL hopefuls, Calgary is a hockey-loving town. To many, the rink is like a second home. Or rather it would be, if anyone were able to spend a sufficient amount of time there. For years, Calgary has suffered from an ice crunch. A severe lack of ice rinks has led to ringette players battling figure skaters for an hour of ice time, and hockey coaches are hoarse from making pleas to have more than one practice a week. Hell, even Bob the Zamboni driver isn’t getting much ice time anymore.

The 2006 Ice Arena Study conducted by the city indicated that Calgary was short at least 10 arenas. According to Perry Cavanaugh, the president of the Calgary Minor Hockey Association, that number has risen. Cavanaugh says it’s gotten so bad that he has seen game times cut in half, and the allotted practice time has dropped to one practice per game from three.

The good news for Calgary’s ice-oriented athletes is that relief is on the way. More than a dozen projects have received funding, and there should be upwards of 10 new arenas built within the next four years. According to Cavanaugh, if every expansion or construction plan is successful, Calgary will be in the neighbourhood of 20 to 22 new ice rinks in the future.

One of the city’s busiest facilities, the centrally located Centennial Arenas, is set for an extreme makeover — a combined $10 million from the Alberta government and the City of Calgary will help to create the province’s first quad-arena facility. The expansion will include two new ice rinks, space for 405 spectators, 10 pro-level dressing rooms to accommodate professional and international games, an expanded lounge with views of all the rinks, and upgrades to the concession stand and pro shop. In addition, Fish Creek Arena is undergoing a rink-twinning project, the Southland Family Leisure Centre has received $6 million for a new rink (due for completion in October 2009) and Canada Olympic Park is building a new Athletic and Ice Complex that will have four rinks (due for completion in 2011). Following the 2007 completion of a $9.6-million upgrade that added another sheet of ice at Max Bell Arena, it seems that there is finally light at the end of the tunnel.

The relief can’t come fast enough. Of the 67 ice rinks in the Calgary region, there was approximately 207, 000 hours of ice time available in 2006. However, much of this time was during school and working hours. The prime time periods on weekdays from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., and weekends from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., are when arenas see their highest concentration of users.

“Our 15- to 17-year-old players are getting off the ice at 11 p.m. They get out of the dressing room by 11:30 p.m., then they travel east or west and usually it is 12:30 a.m. by the time they get home,” says Cavanaugh, adding that it’s stressful for players who have to wake up early for school the next day. “It is because of the shortage, and that doesn’t bode well in such a big city that takes pride in our hockey.”

While players wait for new indoor rinks to be constructed, an innovative idea may help bridge the gap. The rink-in-a-box is the do-it-yourself, handyman project of the hockey world. It provides a bare-bones, outdoor rink that can be put together in about three weeks. It comes unassembled, complete with boards and glass, underlay, team benches and a refrigeration plant that will enable the rinks to function in weather as warm as 10 C. “We’re working on four to six rink-in-a-box projects,” says Cavanaugh. “We’re still in the process of site specification so we have some work to do.”

Cavanaugh says governments have a responsibility to meet existing demand for sports and recreation facilities, and that it’s an important part of keeping people active and preventing obesity. “As citizens, we have an expectation that our government officials will take care of us, and that includes recreation,” says Cavanaugh. “We’re so affluent, we have corporations that are bailing in the cash, but yet youth sport is substandard to many rural towns in Alberta. That just doesn’t wash with us, and we’re going to give the kids what they deserve to get out of the game.”